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Private investigator insurance

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  • Compare tailored insurance for private investigators from trusted brands

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Rated 4.7/5

Based on 39,755 reviews

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Claims paid in 24 hours

For 80% of settled claims

What's on this page

  • Why is insurance important?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How do claims work?
  • FAQs
  • Helpful articles

Insurance for private investigators – why is it important?

Being a private investigator carries a unique set of risks, from mistakes and negligance to defamation and data loss. If a claim came up, would you have the funds ready to cover it? Fortunately we provide tailored cover to protect your business should the worst happen.

  • rated 4.7/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
  • private investigator insurance online, from quote to claim
  • optional personal accident cover for your own injuries, or anyone on the policy

Start your quote

What does private investigator insurance cover?

Most businesses usually start with professional indemnity insurance when building a policy. It protects your private investigator business if you’ve made a mistake that causes a client to lose out financially, or your work doesn’t meet the expected standards. Then, you can add covers to suit the risks your business faces.

Professional indemnity

In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.

What’s typically covered by private investigator professional indemnity insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • professional negligence or a loss-causing breach of contract
  • advice which turns out to be incorrect
  • mistakes in your work that cost you (or others) money to fix

For example :

  • a client alleges that you gave them poor advice, leading to costly legal dispute
  • someone sues your client for defamation following something your business said about them
  • you lose important documents, meaning your client misses a tax deadline and gets a fine

Read more about professional indemnity insurance

Public liability insurance

In case your business and products cause an injury or property damage.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for a private investigator?

Claims against your business for:

  • injuring someone else while you’re working, or afterwards as a result of your work
  • damaging someone else’s property while working, or afterwards because of your work
  • injury or damage caused by your employee (remember, if you employ people, you must have employers’ liability insurance – it’s a legal requirement)

For example:

  • someone trips over a bag on the floor in your premises, causing them to break their ankle
  • you accidentally knock a client’s laptop onto a hard concrete floor, damaging it beyond repair
  • your employee smashes a TV while working in a client's house

**If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.**

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your business

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • injuries to staff (including casual labourers and contractors) that are caused as a result of your business
  • illness suffered by an employee (including temps and casual workers) caused by working for you

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

  • your office manager breaks their finger while trying to close a faulty window at your business premises
  • your receptionist trips over a cable running across the floor of your office, breaking their ankle
  • a temp worker scratches their arm on one of your tools, and the injury becomes infected

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your fixtures, fittings, or operational equipment.

What’s typically covered by business equipment insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • damage to your contents or business equipment
  • destruction or damage caused by theft and vandalism, as well as fire and flood

For example:

  • a vintage glass cabinet is badly damaged following a break-in at your premises
  • a leaking radiator damages some office furniture, which needs replacing or restoring
  • the camera you use to take photographs of stock is stolen from your office

Read more about business equipment insurance

Business legal insurance

In case you’re hit with legal expenses connected to your business.

Claims against your business for:

  • unpaid invoices
  • contracts for the purchase, hire, sale, or provision of goods or services provided to you
  • an alleged breach of statutory rights with an employee

For example:

  • you need to recover debt after a client refused to pay their invoice, caused by a contractual dispute
  • you’re facing legal costs as a client is disputing whether you met your contractual obligations with your hire agreement

Read more about business legal insurance

Excess insurance

In case you need to make a claim on your insurance policy.

What's typically covered by excess insurance?

Claims made by you for:

  • when you make a claim on a cover included in your [TRADE] insurance policy, you won’t need to pay excess

For example :

  • after a heavy storm you need to make a claim on your building cover – you don’t have to pay the £250 excess thanks to your excess insurance
  • a leak in the bathroom causes a guest to slip and injure themselves and thanks to excess cover, there’s no excess to pay on the claim
  • a tenant’s suitcase scratches the wooden flooring in your hallway – you won't have to pay any excess on your accidental damage claim

This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions

How much does private investigator insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £3.19 per month

Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover

Lowest excess

Highest excess

Public liability

No excess

£750

Employers' liability

No excess

No excess

Contents

£200

£4,000

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.

How it works

  • Pick what goes into your policy

    Only pay for what you need

  • Get prices from a range of insurers

    Choose the best fit for you

  • Buy online in minutes

    Get your documents the same day

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Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm

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FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do insurance claims work for private investigators?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims team any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£39 million in claims paid out in 2022

Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022

The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of 5 back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their insurance.

  • Compare and buy in minutes

    Documents arrive today

  • Rated 4.7/5

    Based on 39,755 reviews

  • Here to help

    Help from UK-based experts

  • 24/7 claims

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Private investigator insurance FAQs

Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about insurance for off licences. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

  • Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 0146 683 to update your policy before you take on this new work.

    If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.

  • Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.

  • You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:

    • one-off credit or debit card payment
    • BACS payment
    • Direct Debit

    If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly installments.

  • This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

    If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

    There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions

Helpful articles for private investigator businesses

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